Dustin Pedroia

[bgfield]

I like this guy. I haven't watched enough Boston games to get a good idea of how his defense his, but I do seem to recall him displaying some pretty good range the few times we've played the Red Sox this year. I'm not sure if he's still considered a rookie (he played in 31 games for the Sox last year) but he's in his first full season and after struggling in April he's come to life putting up an OPS of .836 thus far. Isn't hitting for a ton of power but he's getting on base a ton, almost 40% of the time.

What I'm really surprised about is the fact that I am hearing absolutely nothing about him. He's putting up All-Star caliber stats for a second baseman AND he's playing for the Red Sox. You'd think ESPN would be all over this guy but I haven't heard peep about him. So this thread is to tip my cap to a guy putting up a very solid rookie(?) season for one of our competitors. The AL East has some pretty good looking second basemen now with Roberts, Cano, and Pedroia.

[Big Mac]

Aaron Hill is also having a solid season up in toronto.

.268/.324/.440 10 HR 53 RBI

Also B.J. Upton

.336/.417/.555

9 HR

34 RBI

[Camden_yardbird]

Upton was moved to CF when he came back

[blueberryale77]

I like this guy. I haven't watched enough Boston games to get a good idea of how his defense his, but I do seem to recall him displaying some pretty good range the few times we've played the Red Sox this year. I'm not sure if he's still considered a rookie (he played in 31 games for the Sox last year) but he's in his first full season and after struggling in April he's come to life putting up an OPS of .836 thus far. Isn't hitting for a ton of power but he's getting on base a ton, almost 40% of the time.

What I'm really surprised about is the fact that I am hearing absolutely nothing about him. He's putting up All-Star caliber stats for a second baseman AND he's playing for the Red Sox. You'd think ESPN would be all over this guy but I haven't heard peep about him. So this thread is to tip my cap to a guy putting up a very solid rookie(?) season for one of our competitors. The AL East has some pretty good looking second basemen now with Roberts, Cano, and Pedroia.

You're telling me! :002_sbiggrin: Cano and/or Pedroia may someday surpass BRob on the diamond but although they are not bad looking guys they will never be able to hold a candle to his looks. Pedroia and BRob do have some similarities though. Both are tiny (but listed as 5'9"/180) and won NCAA defensive player of the year as shortstops but got moved to 2B as pro's due to their size and questions about arm strength. The one thing Pedroia doesn't bring is the baserunning skill. If I had to have a favorite Red Sock, Pedroia would be it.

[Sports Guy]

Does any division have better second baseman in it than the AL East?

BTW, how scary is it to think Boston has all this great young talent coming up?

Ellsbury and Pedroia batting 1st and 2nd.

Buchholz is in AAA now...He will be here soon...Watch for him to be their bridge from starter to Papelbon in the playoffs.

This team looks real scary long term IMO.

[backwardsk]

Does any division have better second baseman in it than the AL East?

BTW, how scary is it to think Boston has all this great young talent coming up?

Ellsbury and Pedroia batting 1st and 2nd.

Buchholz is in AAA now...He will be here soon...Watch for him to be their bridge from starter to Papelbon in the playoffs.

This team looks real scary long term IMO.

Also, don't they have Manny's $20 mil/season coming off the books after 2008? They'll have plenty of resources to go after free agents in addition to their developped talent.

[Blue Fielder]

The Sox have about 40 million coming off the books just this year. Matt Clement, Curt Schilling, Mike Lowell lead the list.

Next year they also dump some heavy cash with Manny and Varitek's contracts.

I bet they run hard for A-Rod if he becomes available.

Plenty of young pitching in the pipeline, hopefully it will payoff in the future.

The Orioles need to follow the Sox model of gaining draft picks, international scouting and using free agency selectively. Cashman has already seen that method and is developing his pitching too.

[Sports Guy]

The Sox have about 40 million coming off the books just this year. Matt Clement, Curt Schilling, Mike Lowell lead the list.

Next year they also dump some heavy cash with Manny and Varitek's contracts.

I bet they run hard for A-Rod if he becomes available.

Plenty of young pitching in the pipeline, hopefully it will payoff in the future.

The Orioles need to follow the Sox model of gaining draft picks, international scouting and using free agency selectively. Cashman has already seen that method and is developing his pitching too.

The Orioles have already been developing the pitching.

[Say O!]

Does any division have better second baseman in it than the AL East?

BTW, how scary is it to think Boston has all this great young talent coming up?

Ellsbury and Pedroia batting 1st and 2nd.

Buchholz is in AAA now...He will be here soon...Watch for him to be their bridge from starter to Papelbon in the playoffs.

This team looks real scary long term IMO.

Varitek, Manny, Ortiz bodies are starting to fail them. If they re-sign Lowell this offseason, I really see their offense falling off a cliff in 2 years. Yes, they have pitching talent in the minors - but more than likely some of them will be beset by injury or even poor performance.

3 years down the road, I am not scared of the Yankees or the Red Sox - they are aging teams. I am scared that the Orioles will not be able to capitalize on the demographics as both of those teams inevitably decline as their superstars reach mid-late 30's.

[RayFink1e]

Arod is gonna sign with Boston in the offseason to be their SS. I feel it

[Blue Fielder]

The Orioles have already been developing the pitching.

That is why I didn't include it in the list. They do need to step up and do the other things. I would also include gutting the front office. $40 million to have the third worst bullpen in the ML is just a waste. {numbers per fox broadcast this afternoon}